Chapter 15

Rick’s sword tip pointed towards the pillager behind him.

Pwook. The sound of the sword piercing through skin and tearing muscle echoed shortly and heavily.

“Kuhuk!”

Caught off guard by Rick’s sudden attack, the pillager couldn’t even resist as his heart was pierced.

Instantly, the pillagers who were looting the carriage turned their gaze towards Rick. They dropped the items they were looting and charged straight at Rick.

Pulling out the sword that had pierced the heart, Rick shouted.

“Dana!”

Dana, who had been blankly watching the scene, was startled and looked at Rick.

“Fight back!”

At Rick’s words, Dana immediately drew her bowstring.

The approaching pillagers saw the bowstring aimed at them and stopped again.

“The moment you let go, all of you die.”

The man who had driven Rick into terror warned Dana.

“Shoot! Shoot, I say!”

“B-but…”

Dana’s voice trembled. The drawn bowstring wavered and wandered aimlessly.

“If you put down your bow, I’ll spare everyone except that boy.”

The man gave her a choice.

Spare one to save them all.

Dana’s bow slowly lowered its head.

Watching this, Rick shouted once more.

“You know what happens without me?! Choose wisely if you want to see the mother you love so much die!”

“A… Aah…”

The weakened bowstring slowly rose again. Dana exhaled a ragged breath.

She couldn’t figure out what to do at all.

Dana, in a state of panic. Asmodeus shouted at her.

“Don’t do anything strange! The moment you let go, everyone dies!”

“Shoot! Damn it, shoot!!”

Once again, Asmodeus and Rick shouted from both sides of Dana.

“Even if you die, you wanted to save your mom, right?! If you don’t shoot now, you’re killing your mother! Understand?!”

“This doesn’t make sense…”

Asmodeus thought Rick’s nonsense was absurd.

“I’m… I’m sorry…”

But for Dana, it wasn’t.

Dana looked at the pillager who had stopped in front of her with a trembling voice.

The pillager looked at the arrow aimed at him and muttered softly.

“A, don’t d—”

Pwook!

The drawn arrow struck the pillager’s forehead. His eyes rolled back, and he lost strength, collapsing to the ground.

The man who had been watching the scene slowly closed his eyes and muttered softly.

“Oh, Goddess Ratna of Abundance. Please, forgive us.”

Then he raised a massive axe and shouted.

“Slaughter them all without exception!”

The pillagers who had momentarily stopped surged towards Dana and Rick.

Not just the two of them, but three pillagers also charged towards Sirius and Asmodeus.

“T-this…”

As Asmodeus stepped back with a short sigh, Sirius looked at him and said,

“Escort.”

“What…”

She didn’t move. Even as the pillagers chasing her approached, she didn’t take a step.

She simply stood silently, gripping her sword.

Only then did Asmodeus recall the words he had said to Sirius.

“F-fight! Protect me!”

Sirius nodded slightly.

Finally, her stiff legs moved again, and she raised her sword towards the pillager who had reached her.

“Sorry about this, kid!”

One of the leading pillagers thrust his spear towards Sirius.

The flying spear. Like when fighting monsters, Sirius slightly twisted her waist.

The pillager’s spear stabbed the air. Sirius spread her legs to steady herself, then twisted her waist back and swung her sword.

Chweeek!

The pillager’s head flew off in an instant.

*

The moment Dana shot the arrow, Rick immediately charged forward.

Towards the man who had made him cower.

‘I’ll kill him… I will definitely kill him!’

He gritted his teeth. This was his chance to redeem his shame.

Feeling Rick approach, the man slowly raised his axe.

Soon, their sword and axe met in combat.

Kaang!

The sound of metal clashing loudly reverberated.

Rick placed another hand on the hilt of the sword he had been holding with one hand.

It was burdensome to withstand the man’s overwhelming force with just one hand.

“Kheuk…”

Rick groaned continuously. Even with both hands gripping the sword, the blade gradually pushed closer to him against the axe.

A clear difference in power.

‘Damn it… Damn it!’

He clenched his teeth hard enough to shatter them, but his footing faltered under the pressing weight.

“I hate guys like you the most.”

The man pressing down on Rick with the axe spoke.

“Those blinded by arrogance always cause harm.”

Kuduk. The blade of the axe gradually shattered the edge of the sword.

“What, what kind of cowardly thief talks like that!”

“It’s not cowardice.”

“What…”

The man lifted the axe he had been clashing with and said,

“It’s just our way of living.”

Whoosh!

The axe swung down fiercely from above.

Rick took a quick breath and raised his sword held with both hands from below.

Kwang!

Once again, the edges clashed. The considerable impact dulled the blade of Rick’s sword.

Unlike its original straight form, the sword’s surface became jagged like a saw against the axe.

The man swung his axe several times.

Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

Eventually, the axe shattered the blade of the sword with a clang, breaking it.

The upper part of the sword lost its strength and fell to the ground.

In Rick’s hand remained a half-broken remnant barely resembling a sword.

“It’s over.”

Signaling the end, the menacing figure of the axe loomed over Rick’s head.

“Ahh.”

Rick gazed at the axe before him and sighed.

‘So… I’m going to die?’

Rick had talent in swordsmanship.

Since he was young, he had been stronger than his peers and good at fighting.

Later, he joined the mercenary guild to earn money and used it to learn swordsmanship from a retired knight.

Thus, among those of a similar age, no one could defeat him.

His shoulders rose.

Life was easy.

Rick began to secretly look down on mercenaries stronger than himself.

To think they were still that weak at their age. Clearly, they hadn’t put in the effort.

I’m not like them. I’m not ordinary.

He believed he would soon surpass even the older mercenaries.

Because, in the world Rick had lived in thus far, he was the protagonist.

Rick considered himself a special person.

Just as he had in the past, and as he did now.

He believed he would remain special in the future.

That’s what Rick thought.

However, he was wrong.

The world was full of people much stronger.

Rick was merely on the stronger side of ordinary.

He was not a special existence.

Just a typical mercenary struggling to survive.

Exactly that kind of person.

Only when death loomed before him did Rick realize this truth.

“P-please spare me…”

He realized reality.

That he was not a special existence.

However, it was too late.

The axe already close to him intended to take his last breath like a grim reaper.

“Please spare me…”

Despite Rick’s trembling plea, the axe did not slow its speed.

In an instant, Rick’s vision flickered white.

“You are…”

Before Rick could finish his sentence, Sirius standing in front stretched out her hand toward the axe.

Kwadududuk!

The sound of Sirius’s arm being shredded by the axe blade rang out mournfully.

The axe, which had slashed vertically from the palm, split the bone up to the middle of the arm before stopping.

“You’re insane.”

Looking at Sirius’s severed arm on either side of the axe, the man wore a chilling expression.

“Completely insane.”

Between the two halves of the arm, fragments of gruesomely shredded bone and blood flowed out.

The pain was not just severe—it was near-death agony.

Yet, there was not a trace of movement in Sirius’s expression as she stared at the man.

Rather, she took advantage of the man’s confusion and swung her sword.

“Hup!”

The man shifted his weight onto his heels and retreated a few steps to dodge the sword aimed at his neck.

The widened distance naturally broadened the man’s field of view.

And he saw.

“This can’t be…”

His fallen comrade, limbs severed.

Who could it be? The answer was obvious.

The man gripped the axe tightly and looked at the white-haired girl.

Though her severed arm flailed limply in the wind, the girl’s gaze remained distant and noble.

Her unwavering eyes were an intense crimson.

‘Not an ordinary brat.’

Sacrificing one’s own arm to block an attack was no easy feat.

Even when such a situation arose, very few could actually execute it.

Most froze in terror and died helplessly.

Especially when it was not for oneself but to protect others.

The man berated himself.

‘My mistake.’

He had assumed the man would be the strongest. How wrong he was.

The man slowly raised the hand holding the axe and spoke.

“I won’t show mercy.”

Thud. His leg kicked off the ground, propelling him toward Sirius.

‘Her left arm is gone. She can’t use her left hand anymore.’

The man swung the axe toward Sirius’s left side.

“Die!”

The diagonal trajectory of the axe arced down toward her shoulder. Sirius raised her sword horizontally.

Kikik!

The metallic screech grazed their ears.

The path of the axe slid along the sword and embedded itself in the ground.

The man’s body lurched forward. Taking advantage of the opening, Sirius reversed her grip on the sword and drove it into the back of the man’s head.

Realizing this, the man twisted his body by exerting force on his planted ankle.

Pwook.

Barely avoiding the head, he collapsed with the sword deeply embedded in his side.

As Sirius lifted the sword once more to finish him, the fallen man grabbed her ankle and threw her.

Due to her light frame, Sirius’s body tumbled all the way to the rear wheel of the carriage with the sword still raised.

Kudang. The boards supporting the rear wheel of the carriage shattered.

The unbalanced carriage tilted backward.

“A, no!”

Asmodeus, watching the scene, reached out his hand.

Jjjeok!

Sirius’s body was already crushed beneath the carriage.

“Hyeop…”

Asmodeus covered his mouth with both hands.

Droplets of red blood seeped through Sirius’s white hair sprawled beneath the carriage.

“It’s over.”

The man pressed a hand to his side and picked up the fallen axe.

‘Only small fry remain.’

Without the white-haired brat, the male mercenary was the first to deal with.

However, the trembling boy from moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

Fwoosh. Looking around, the boy was cutting the rope connecting the carriage while mounted on a horse with the archer, using the lower half of his broken sword.

“Do you really think you can escape like that?!”

The man shouted as he swung the axe at Rick.

Thud. Though the rope snapped, Rick realized it was too late to evade and pulled Dana in front of him.

“W-wait a mome—”

The moment Dana’s wide eyes filled with panic.

Chwek!

Her body was torn apart mercilessly.

“I-I’ll definitely… definitely save your mom!”

Staring at the lifeless Dana who had collapsed, Rick spurred his horse and rode off into the distance.

Sirius, whose body had been crushed, watched the scene with blurred vision and slowly closed her eyes.